Fire extinguisher



Jan. 9, 1934. J. B. QulNN 1,943,186

FIRE EXT INGUISHER Filed Oct. 25, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I3 q FIG. l.

8 INVENTOR J. B. QUINN @J7/Ma] AT TOR NEYS Jan. 9, 1934. J. B. QUINN FIRE EXTINGUISHER Filed Oct. 25, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 9, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFICE FIRE EXTNGUISHER Application October 23, 1930. Serial No. 490,672

13 Claims. (C1. 169-26) My invention relates to fire extinguishers which function automatically to dispense a re extinguishing liquid over surfaces adjacent the extinguisher when the temperature rises beyond a predetermined point.

In particular it relates to the type of re extinguishers in which the re extinguishing liquid is confined in a fragile container, a so-called grenade, so constructed and combined with the .1,0 support on which it rests that irrespective of the position of the grenade on its support, the latter will fall and fracture on the failure of a fusible connection associated with the support.

It is an object of this invention to provide a t5 grenade extremely simple in form and easy to manufacture, and a corresponding support adapted to be fastened to a wall or the like which holds the grenade firmly and yet which will positively cause the same to fall from its support when the fusible connection fails. The support and grenade are so constructed that the grenade may be instantly removed from its support by hand without the removal or unlocking of any portion of the support, so that the grenade may be thrown manually if so desired to extinguish a re in its vicinity.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention and in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a grenade and its support.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a detail View infront elevation showing the assembly, including the fusible connection between the retaining member and the support.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the support and the grenade.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the support and grenade showing the different positions of the grenade in dotted lines and the position of the center of gravity of the grenade corresponding to the different positions.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of a device similar in all respects to that shown in Fig. 1 with the exception that it has two fusible connections instead of one.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates a support, preferably made of sheet metal, the upper part 2 of which is vertical and flat and provided with apertures 3 for the reception of screws 4. for attachment to a Wall or the like. The lower part of the support 1 is curved at 5 which constis() tutes a seat for the reception of the grenade 6.

In the present instance the grenade 6 is symmetrical and pear shaped, having the lower portion approximately semi-spherical as at 6 and the upper portion 62 approximately conical with g5 the altitude of the conical portion 62 greater than the radius of the semi-spherical portion 6 The seat 5 is shaped to t snugly the semi-spherical portion 6 of the grenade.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1, 2, 7, and 8, it will be noted that the seat 5 covers less than one-half of the semi-spherical bottom 6 of the grenade and that the forward edge 5 of seat 5 does not extend to the vertical line dropped from the center of the semi-spherical portion of the bottom 6. The grenade 6 will, therefore, tend to fall from its seat 5.

In order to retain the grenade 6 on its seat 5 I provide a retaining member 7 consisting of a band, preferably of metal, the ends 8 and 9 of 80 which are detachably secured to the seat 5. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the end 8 terminates in a pair of outwardly bent spaced hooks 8 which are hooked into corresponding apertures 52 of the seat 5. The other end 9 of the 85 retaining member 7 is secured to the seat 5 in the manner shown in the detail views of Figs. 3 and 4. A small metal plate 11 is secured to the seat 5 by a suitable means, such as a bolt or rivet 12. Another metal plate 13 has one end turned out- 90 wardly upon itself to form a hook 14 having its center portion cut away to form a pair of spaced ears 14. The seat 5 is provided with an aperture 10 which is in alignment with apertures 11 and 13 in metal plates 11 and 13, respectively. In 95 order to assist the screw or rivet 12 in holding plate 11 against seat 5 the plate l1 has the metal surrounding the aperture 11 slightly cupped and projected into the aperture 10 in the seat 5. A fusible connection in the shape of a 10o layer 15 of a metal alloy having a predetermined melting point is interposed between plates 11 and 13 and holds them together. The fusible connection 15 also lls apertures 11 and 13 of the plates 1l and 13, respectively, thus forming a small plug 105 15 which assists the layer 15 tohold the plates l1 and 13 together. The end 9 of the retaining member 7 is reduced to form a central tongue 9, having its extreme end 92 bent upon itself and adapted to engage the hook 14 between the ears 110 14 of the plate 13. It should be noted that the retaining member 7 embraces about one-half of the grenade 6, the central portion of the member 7 engaging the grenade 6 about the medium horizontal Zone of the grenade. It is evident that on the failure of the fusible connection l5 the plate 13 will fall and release the end 9 of the retaining member 7, which, due to the unsupported weight of the grenade resting against it, will swing hori- Zontally on a vertical axis on its pivoted end 8 in the manner of a door swinging upon its hinges, and permit the grenade 6 to fall from its seat.

In the modification illustrated in Figure 8 each end of the retaining member 7 is associated with a fusible connection as just described in Figures 3 and 4 so that on the temperature reaching the predetermined degree the fusible connection on each end of the retaining member will give way and the retaining member '7 and the grenade 6 will fall.

Figure 7 illustrates the different positions and the corresponding centers of gravity of the grenade 6, showing tnat even in the extreme positions of the grenade the center of gravity will still fall outside of its seat 5 and thus insure a falling of the grenade on the failure of the fusible connection. If C is the center of gravity of the grenade 6 when the latter is in a normal vertical position, as shown in the full lines in Figure 7, the center of gravity will shift to C' when the grenade is tilted to the right as indicated in dotted lines. If the grenade 6 is shifted to the left so that the conical upper portion 62 engages the vertical upper portion 2 of the support l, which is the limit of movement to the left, the center of ,gravity C2 will still be outside the seat 5. n the shifting of the grenade 6 allowance is made for the slight displacement of the center of gravity due to the fact that the liquid in the grenade does not entirely ll the same and, therefore, will not present the same symmetrical volume as when the grenade is in a vertical normal position. Such displacement of the center of gravity is, however, but slight and will still be outside of seat 5 and, therefore, will not interfere with the proper functioning of the device.

The grenade may be instantly removed from its support by grasping the upper conical portion with the hand and removing it from its seat. It should be noted that no part of the support is removed or unlocked to do so.

W'hile I prefer to use a grenade with a semispherical bottom and a corresponding seat, it will be obvious that any other suitable shape may be substituted therefor provided, however, that the center of gravity of the grenade lies in a vertical line, passing outside of the seat, even in the case where the grenade is tilted or inclined from its normal position.

Various changes may be made in the construetion and arrangement of parts by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed.

I claim:

l. The combination of a grenade fire extinguisher having a semi-spherical bottom and a Aconical top of an altitude greater than the radius of the semi-spherical bottom, a support adapted to be fastened to a wall having a vertical upper end and provided with a fixed seat for the reception of the grenade, the seat being of a shape to fit snugly the bottom of the grenade and being of a size so that the center of gravity of the grenade will lie in a vertical line outside of said seat, a grenade retaining band having its ends connected to the upper forward end of the seat and embracing the grenade about a central horizontal Zone, and a fusible connection interposed between the seat and each end of the retaining band whereby on failure of said connections or either of them the retaining band will release the grenade and permit the grenade to fall from its seat.

2. The combination of a grenade fire extinguisher having a globular bottom, a support having a vertical upper end and a lower fixed seat for the reception of the grenade, the seat being shaped to conform to the curvature of said bottom but engaging a portion only thereof so that the grenade will normally tend to fall from its seat, a grenade retaining band having is ends connected to the support at points at opposite sides of the grenade, said band embracing the grenade about a central horizontal zone and preventing the grenade from falling from its seat, a fusible connection between the ends of the retaining band and the support whereby the failure of the fusible connection will release the grenade to fall from its seat.

3. The combination of a grenade fire extinguisher having a semi-spherical bottom and a conical top of an altitude greater than the radius of the semi-spherical bottom, a support having its lower portion projecting forwardly to form a fixed seat for a portion of the bottom of the i grenade so that the center of gravity of the grenade will be in a vertical line passing outside of said seat, and a retaining member connected to the support and partly embracing the grenade about a substantially central horizontal sone, and a fusible connection interposed between the ends of the retaining member and the support whereby the failure of the fusible connection will release the retaining member from the support and permit the grenade to fall from its seat.

Li. The combination of a grenade fire extinguisher, a support adapted to be fastened to a wall and having its lower portion projecting forwardly to form a ,xed seat for the reception of a portion of the bottom of the grenade so that the center of gravity of the grenade will lie in a vertical line passing outside of said seat, a retaining band connected to the seat and engaging the grenade about a central horizontal zone, and a fusible connection interposed between the seat and the ends of the retaining band so that the failure of said fusible connection will release the grenade and permit the grenade to fall from its sea-t.

5. The combination of a grenade nre extinguisher having a curved bottom and a reduced top, a support adapted to be fastened to a wall and having its lower portion projecting forwardly to form a fixed seat for a portion only of the bottom of the grenade so that the center of gravity of the grenade will lie in a vertical line passing outside of said seat, a grenade retaining member having its ends releasably secured to the seat at opposite sides of the grenade, and a fusible connection between each end of the retaining member and the seat so that on the failure of the fusible connection the retaining member will be released from said seat and permit the grenade to fall.

6. rIhe combination of a grenade re extinguisher, a support adapted to be fastened to a wall and having its lower portion projecting forwardly to form a fixed seat for a minor portion 'ino of the bottom of the grenade so that the center of gravity of the grenade will lie in a vertical line passing outside and in front of said seat, a retaining member connected to the seat and partly embracing the grenade to keep the same from falling, and a fusible connection interposed between each end of the retaining member and the seat so that on the failure of the fusible connection the retaining member and the grenade will fall from the seat.

'7. The combination of a grenade fire extinguisher having a semi-spherical bottom and a conical top, a support adapted to be fastened to a wall having an upper vertical portion and a lower portion projecting forwardly to form a Xed seat conforming to the shape of the bottom of the grenade but engaging a minor portion of said bottom so that the center of gravity of the grenade will lie in a vertical line passing outside and in front of said seat, a retaining band having its ends connected to the upper forward portions of said seat, and fusible connections interposed between the seat and the ends of said retaining band so that on the failure of the fusible oonnections the retaining band and the grenade will fall from the seat.

8. The combination of a grenade re extinguisher, a support adapted to be fastened to a wall and having its lower portion projecting foi*- wardly to form a fixed seat for a minor portion of the bottom of the grenade so that the center of gravity of the grenade will lie in a vertical line passing outside and in front of said seat, a grenade retaining band having its central portion engaging the grenade about a central horizontal zone, the seat being provided with a pair of hooks at points on opposite sides of the grenade, the ends of the retaining band being provided with means for detachably engaging said hooks, and a fusible connection between each hook and the adjacent seat so that on the failure of the fusible connection the retaining band and the grenade will fall from the seat.

9. The combination of a grenade fire extinguisher having a curved bottom and a reduced top, a support to be fastened to a wall and having its lower portion projecting forwardly to form a xed seat shaped to fit snugly a minor portion of the bottom of the grenade so that the center of gravity of the grenade will lie in a vertical line passing outside and in front of said seat, a retaining member connected to the seat and engaging the grenade about a central horizontal Zone, the ends of said retaining member being secured to the seat at opposite sides of the grenade, and a fusible connection interposed between the seat and each end of the retaining member so that on the failure of the fusible connection the retaining member will be released from the seat and permit the grenade to fall.

10. The combination of a grenade fire extinguisher having a symmetrical shape with a major vertical axis, a support having a xed seat shaped to engage snugly a minor portion of the bottom of the grenade so that the grenade will normally tend to fall from the seat, a grenade retaining band having its ends secured to the upper portion of the seat at points on opposite sides of the grenade and embracing the frontal centrai portion thereof to hold the same on its seat, and a fusible connection interposed between each end of the retaining band and the seat whereby the failure of the fusible connection will release the retaining band and permit the grenade to fall.

11. The combination of a grenade re extinguisher, a support having a fixed seat projecting forwardly therefrom for the reception of the bottom of the grenade, the grenade and seat being so shaped that the grenade when on its seat will tend to fall therefrom under the action of gravity, a retaining member embracing the grenade about a central zone and having one end secured to the support in pivotal relation, a fusible connection interposed between 'the retaining member and the support so that on the failure of the fusible connection the retaining member will swing on its pivoted end to release the grenade and permit same to fall from the seat, the fusible connection comprising an outer plate provided with means for holding the retaining member, a plate intermediate the outer plate and the support and permanently secured to the latter, and a fusible layer between the outer and intermediate plates holding said plates together.

l2. rIhe combination of a grenade fire extinguisher, a support having a xed seat projecting forwardly therefrom for the reception of the bottom of the grenade, the grenade and seat being so shaped that the grenade when on its seat will tend to fall therefrom under the action of gravity, a retaining member embracing the grenade about a central acne and having one end secured to the support in pivotal relation, a fusible connection interposed between the retaining member and the support so that on the failure of the fusible connection the retaining member will swing on its pivoted end to release the grenade and permit same to fall from the seat, the fusible connection comprising an outer plate provided with means for holding the retaining member, a plate intermediate the outer plate and the support and permanently secured to the latter, and a fusible layer between the outer and intermediate plates holding said plates together, there being aligned perforations in said plate, the fusible layer between the outer plate and the intermediate plate forming a plug in said perforations for holding said plates together.

13. The combination of a grenade nre extinn guisher, a support having a fixed side shaped to engage a minor portion of the bottom of the grenade so that the center of gravity of the grenade will lay in a vertical line outside of the seat, a grenade retaining member having one end pivoted to the support and the other end attached to the support at a point opposite from the pivoted end, the retaining member embracing the frontal central portion of the grenade, and a fusible connection interposed between the support and the last named end of the retaining member whereby the failure of the fusible connection will release the retaining member to swing on its pivot and to permit the grenade to fall from its seat.

JOI-IN B. QUINN. 

